WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — As a 13-point lead melted to four with 3:27 remaining, this group of Hoosiers found themselves at a crossroads.
Recent history playing away from Assembly Hall in the Big Ten suggested that Purdue had Indiana right where it wanted them. The Hoosiers had not beaten any conference team besides Penn State on the road since the 2007-2008 season.
But as the Paint Crew reached a fever pitch and momentum shifted to the Boilermakers, Indiana took a road they’ve rarely traveled in recent seasons away from Bloomington. The Hoosiers did what they couldn’t do in Lincoln, Madison or Ann Arbor: finish well down the stretch.
First it was a block by Will Sheehey on a shot by Lewis Jackson that would’ve cut the lead to two. And then it was Remy Abell’s 3-pointer from the corner at the 1:27 mark to put the game out of reach.
Both plays were made possible because Indiana put together its most complete effort from start to finish all season on the road. The Hoosiers were basically in control throughout the contest.
“To me, it looked like it meant more to them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Just right from the start, looking, you can see guys’ facial expressions, you can see guys body language, I thought they were more engaged.”
It hasn’t been that way as of late for Indiana on the road in the Big Ten.
The Hoosiers were never able to fully recover in slow starts at Ohio State and Michigan. At Nebraska and Wisconsin, Indiana couldn’t come up with the key plays Sheehey and Abell made in Mackey Arena on Saturday night.
“It’s big for us,” Indiana guard Victor Oladipo said. “It should boost our confidence a little bit. We should do stuff like that. We’re a really good team.”
This is what Indiana-Purdue is supposed to be: Two teams right in the thick of the Big Ten race, both desperately needing a win to put themselves in the best position for the postseason.
There’s finally some consistency in the power rankings. The top eight teams stayed in the same order as last week, and only Nebraska, Iowa and Northwestern moved at all.
Indiana’s wins against Kentucky and Ohio State remain the two best victories in the country this season.
With the midway point of the Big Ten season approaching, Inside the Hall takes a look at the sleepers, contenders and the favorite to take home the conference’s player of the year award: 
Big Ten Power Rankings: Week 7
After a week with little movement, six teams are in a new position in week seven of our Big Ten power rankings. The changes come in the bottom half of the rankings as the top four teams in the conference have begun to pull away from the pack.
12. Penn State (10-14, 2-9) (LAST WEEK: 12)…They played with a good Wisconsin team at home for awhile, but the Nittany Lions just don’t have enough late-game options to compete in the conference. Penn State has lost four straight and seven of eight.
11. Nebraska (11-11, 3-8) (LAST WEEK: 9)…The Cornhuskers dropped two winnable games this week, one at Northwestern and the other against Minnesota. Uncharacteristically, Nebraska has given up 69 or more points in five straight games.
10. Northwestern (14-8, 4-6) (LAST WEEK: 11)…They needed a good week, and the Wildcats got one. Back-to-back wins — including one at in-state rival Illinois on Sunday — has closer to the NCAA Tournament bubble.
9. Minnesota (17-7, 5-6) (LAST WEEK: 7)…The Golden Gophers could have continued their climb in the power rankings had they held onto a sizable lead at Iowa. Still, they’re a team to watch as we get closer to the Big Ten Tournament.
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